As part of a strategy of "confluence," Ubisoft announced today at its press event that it would be launching an in-game serviced called U Play in the next year.

The NXE-ish service includes a store, community aspects, media and other stuff that will turn Ubisoft games into online mini-fraternities. In the words of Luke Plunkett, who actually liveblogged the presser and saw the unveiling himself, "Basically a corporate website/Xbox dash located within Ubisoft games, instead of the console."